The following is based on actual events that took place not long after King Richard I (Daley) died suddenly in December of 1976 without leaving a successor. With the iron fist of the Boss gone rival factions in the City Counsel battled for control of Chicago.
This was an era when a wise bar owner cultivated a relationship with his alderman as well as the desk sergeant at the local stationhouse. Rodinos Restaurant did both and thrived. I know because I was there.
Don't bother looking for the restaurant; even though it's long gone I changed the name because I still run into some of the old timers who might not appreciate me telling tales out of school. All characters were of legal age when this took place.
Chapter I
When we were newlyweds without a lot of money my wife and I would play a game called Dress Up. Karen would show up at Rodinos for our date dressed, make that barely dressed, like one of the prostitutes that frequented the bar. Her natural blonde hair and heavy makeup were always perfect. Quite simply, she was the most beautiful woman there.
I would be sitting where I could watch the patron's reactions as she entered the lounge. Conversations would abruptly stop and heads snap as she walked the length of the bar, her heels clicking on the polished hardwood floor. Karen would walk slowly, pausing occasionally, as though looking for someone before taking a seat on a stool in the corner, directly across the room from me. She would turn and face away from the bar. I couldn't see but I knew she would cross her legs high, allowing her short skirt to creep up enough that every man there knew she was wearing nylons and garters on her long legs. She would allow her jacket to open just enough to allow a glimpse of the wonders which lie within.
It never took more than a few seconds before a man, or men, would offer to buy her a drink. Often times there were heated debates over who would be allowed the privilege. More than once the bouncers had to break things up when it became physical.
She would tell the victor she was waiting for her date but wouldn't mind his company until he arrived...if only to keep the lounge lechers from preying on her. Karen would reward him for the drink by discretely opening her blazer and flashing her damn near naked breasts which were riding proud on a chopper bra under a see through blouse.
A second drink would be rewarded with spread of her legs and a subtle flash of pink meat. When her new friend started making suggestions she would nonchalantly let it slip that she was a hired escort and her time had already been purchased for the evening.
After the third drink Karen would forgot to put her knees back together and casually pull her skirt up until the white flesh above the tops of her stockings was fully visible. She would pause, then slide the skirt up until she was fully exposed.
Karen would tease him until he made a move for her naked pussy. That's when my wife would shut him down by saying unless he paid for the privilege she was a SFANF girl, So Far And No Farther, while he stared at her cleanly shaved pussy.
It was the rare man who didn't tear his wallet out and stuff a few bills into her jacket pocket.
Karen would turn into a vamp, kissing him as though they were long time lovers, while he reached inside her jacket to fondle her breasts. Again I couldn't see it happen but the smile on her face said his hands were working their way up her inner thighs.
I would watch her expression get very serious when the man's fingers had reached her hot, wet cunt. She would close her eyes and roll her head from side to side as they played with her lips then slid their fingers inside her firebox.
The owner, Vince, used to walk over, buy me a shot, and say something classy, like "Your wife's cunt is solid gold" as we watched Karen getting molested. "Watching her is real good for business."
I always got a screaming hard on watching my wife performing for me and was often tempted not to intervene. But our game had rules and I knew that was as far as we agreed my beautiful bride would go. So I would show up and place my hand on her shoulder. Karen would glance back and announce my "client is here." You could see her wanna-be fucker crestfallen and quite a few attempted to negotiate with me, their fingers still deep in her tight cunt, to reimburse me for her company for the evening. I turned down some very attractive offers of cash from men wanting to have sex with my wife.
Karen was ever the entrepreneur. If the guy looked like he was prepared to spend some real money she would signal one of Vince's prostitutes over to complete what she had started. They would disappear into one of the back rooms and transact their business. The girls liked Karen because she never asked for a cut for warming up their client.
Once we were seated it was my fingers that laid claim to my wife's sloppy cunt while she counted the wad of cash she had earned. She never earned less than fifty bucks.
Chapter II
I thought we had life by the balls. That all ended the day Karen, my wife of ten years, was offered a promotion from upper middle management to lower upper management. Honest, I'm not making that up, that's what they call the rungs on their corporate ladder. Karen would be the first female executive in the company's forty year history. As was tradition, she would receive a bonus, a company car, and a generous clothing allowance. The dress code was simple, conservative suits at all times. There were no casual Fridays in the ivory tower. It was like a 1950's black and white sitcom.
Unfortunately her new job would mean relocating from our 32nd floor Mag Mile condominium to what I was assured was a very nice rental house in a suburb just outside of Phoenix, Arizona. This tested our marriage like nothing before. I kept pointing out they were making her the token woman only because the company was fighting for a government contract and was shy on their quotas. She argued with equal emotion that she was the most qualified and had earned the promotion. The battle raged on for over a week before Karen finally wore me down and I acquiesced.
That meant I would have to walk away from the fifteen years I had invested in my career, developing a network of contacts which made me the highest paid sales rep at the company. Unfortunately the company did not have a southwest office so I would have to start over from scratch somewhere else. The last thing my boss said to me was, "When you get tired of snakes, sand, and 100 degrees in the shade your job will always be waiting."
With unemployment creeping up to 10% there weren't a lot of high tech companies hiring sales representatives. After wasting untold hours scouring the internet and making phone calls I contracted with an executive search firm in a futile attempt to find suitable employment. Everyone in Arizona agreed; I had too much experience for an entry level job but no local network that would allow me to operate at my Chicago level. Basically, I was unemployable.
To make things even worse we were getting slaughtered by selling our condo at the height of Obama's Great Recession. $200,000 would vanish with one stroke of the pen.
We were hitting all of our favorite restaurants on a farewell tour; tonight would be the last stop. To be honest I had not been very good company and silently moped my way through the meals. Even gourmet food tasted like bile in my mouth. Tonight we had reservations for a booth at Rodinos, a dicey, darkly lit, Italian restaurant just north of downtown that we went to on our first date. Later that evening I learned Karen picked that particular restaurant because she worked there part time as a lingerie model while attending college. How she dressed was a test to see if I was a voyeur who would be aroused by her flaunting her body or an offended Puritan. If I was the latter the bouncers were standing by to make me go away.
It didn't take a very perceptive person to know tonight would not have a magical ending like it did after our first visit. Instead, after several sleepless nights I decided to end it where it began and tell my wife to go to Phoenix without me; I quit the marriage. Earlier in the day I visited a divorce lawyer and had him write out a proposed Separation Agreement and a distribution of assets. To tell the truth I really didn't give a shit and said she could take anything she wanted because I just wanted it over. I wasn't going to be dragged into the middle of the desert so my wife could become a quota queen.
At a few minutes after six Karen texted me that she was having a drink at the bar. When I arrived twenty minutes later the lounge was crowded, mostly with men standing alone nursing a beer while watching the Cubs blow another game. There were, however, a couple of men in suits hovering over a blonde in black at the far end of the lounge. Their backs were to me and at first I thought they were with one of the working girls; somehow I knew my wife was the center of the predator's attention. I debated breaking it up but elected instead to have Jan, the hostess, seat me in a private corner booth.